Premiership: Full Steam Ahead

Ah the FA Cup, the romance, the giant-killing. Literally. Mr Kanu and Crouch (all 13-14 feet of them; hence the clever giantkilling reference – get it? Ah…..) were among the Portsmouth team who cantered to a defeat at home to Swansea. 2-0 and the holders are out while the likes of Aston Villa, West Brom and Arsenal will have to do it all again after being held to draws by ‘weaker opposition’.  Manchester United and Chelsea will have been thrilled to see their three rivals held, after Liverpool’s draw with Everton, and now attention turns to an important week in the Premiership….

Tuesday:

• Sunderland V Fulham
• West Brom V Man Utd – highlights of Man Utd V Spurs below -
• Tottenham V Stoke
• Portsmouth V Aston Villa (Sky Sports 2 – 8pm)

These fixtures will all be of significance for teams in varying degrees of form. League leaders Man Utd were comfortable winners over Spurs at the weekend despite falling behind early in the game.  Of greater importance to Alex Ferguson is the mounting injury list which claimed the impressive Fabio Da Silva and the less impressive Danny Wellbeck (already beginning to look like Utd’s answer to Nicholas Bendtner) at the weekend. With the likes of Ferdinand, Evans, Brown and Saha already out, Utd’s back line will again see Neville and Vidic paired at the back. This means that Darren Fletcher will drop to right back. While most people will look at this fixture and say Utd are bankers, West Brom like to play a bit of football. What they lack in talent they make up for in attitude and I fancy them to at least run United close tomorrow night. Tony Mowbray will see this as a crucial game with the relegation battle set to feature anything up to 14 teams at present. A win over Utd would likely take the Baggies, who’ve take nine points from their last 15, out of the relegation area and would set the team up for survival with buckets of confidence going into the weekend clash with freefalling Hull.

Johnny Evans (left) joins Wayne Rooney (centre) on the sidelines as Edwin Van Der Saar (right) looks on and Cristiano Ronaldo (far left) goes down under the car's challenge

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Sunderland (no wins in four) entertain Fulham (no wins in three). Another six pointer, with Fulham only five points above the relegation area despite their recent impressive run. Sunderland have lost Chimbonda (back to Spurs) and are clinging on to star striker Kenwyne Jones despite Spragia’s boast that the club would not be selling players in January. Fulham still look good, and if not good, solid and with Andy Johnson beginning to get a few goals, will fancy their chances at the Stadium of Fright.

I fancy another surprise at Fratton Park. It takes a brave man to bet on Portsmouth but having signed Pele today (18-year-old lad from Portugal, not legend to all erectile dysfunction sufferers) as well as solid players in Pennant and Mullins, coupled with Ashley Young’s suspension for Villa, Martin O’Neill’s men may be running out of legs. I hate that expression. Villa look tired,. There you go, bit better. Despite fielding a full-strengt side, Villa were held by Doncaster at the weekend and a trip to Portsmouth won’t look too enticing just a few days later. With Wigan, Blackburn, Chelsea, a replay against Doncaster and a trip to CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup within the next four weeks, it’ll be a bruising month for Villa and may see them slip behind the Premiership contenders, starting with a win for Tony Adams’ men tomorrow.

Ashley Young was getting sick of sitting on the sidelines

Liverpool for the League?

 

Liverpool, apparent Premiership winners in waiting, face a tricky trip to Marseille tonight, buoyed by their victory over Manchester United at the weekend. If you are to read the papers you will see a ludicrous amount of hype being given to the 2-1 win on Saturday. Yes, it is a big deal that they won. Yes, they did it in unlikely circumstances and showed plenty of heart and commitment. However, they were at this very point last year with 10 points from 4 games and how long have we all been saying how hard Liverpool work as a team?

The truth is, Manchester United don’t always start the season very impressively. Maybe it’s the fact that Ferguson’s growing arthiritis is affecting him. Maybe he’s started using his free bus pass and the traffic  gets him in a rage so he can’t function properly. The fact also remains that Ronaldo scored more than goals this year and is currently sitting on the sidelines. Now, it’s true that Ronaldo is not the most prolific against the big teams. Man Utd fans can argue it all they want, but bar a goal in last year’s 3-0 win over Liverpool,the Portugese has generally been kept relatively quiet, again, due to Liverpool’s hard-working players who tackle back as though they were chasing goals. Still, he is a big loss, and Liverpool will still face problems this year due to a lack of imagination in the final third.

There is plenty to be positive about however for the Anfield faithful. Albert Riera actually ran at defenders. And beat them sometimes. It has been an exceptionally rare occurrence for Liverpool fans of recent years to see a winger jinking his way past a defender. Ryan Babel has done it often but has a languid style whereby he skips past defenders once they have committed themselves to a challenge. Riera didn’t give them time and had an impressive debut in intimidating circumstances against the best right-back of the season last year.
     Liverpool also did it without Torres and Gerrard and that is huge for the confidence of the squad players that Benitezso often champions but that you get the feeling the two lads don’t believe are quite up to it. When Torres scores he tends to have eyes for Gerrard and vice verca perhaps rightly so. They are among the best players in Europe and on a different level to their teammates. Well, at least they were. Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Javier Mascherano and even Martin Skrtel deserve great praise for the way they step up to the mark set by Torres and Gerrard every week. Liverpool fans might now be forgiven for being more concerned when Mascherano isn’t playing, rather than their native captain.
To a lesser extent Keane, Alonso, and even Dirk Kuyt are capable of stepping up to the mark as well. Kuyt divides critics between fans who love his hard work and knack for scoring important goals and those who see him as a striker who can’t cut it and is thus used as a player who’ll ‘always give 100%’. I would be split between both camps. The truth is, Kuyt can score goals, but on the right wing has become an important player for the club. He was superb on Saturday, overlooked by many pundits for praise (except his biggest fan Benitez). Everyone looked to Keane, and he will eventually start getting plenty of goals, but Kuyt was instrumental in victory, with both goals coming from the right wing and Kuyt’s assist the action of a mature, team-minded individual. Kuyt had the chance to blast a shot at goal but thinks of his teammates more than himself and is deserving of his place, most of the time……

Abu Dhabi Doo….(Transfer Deadline Day)

Berbatov to Manchester City?? What?? Can a man not go to work for a few hours and come back to some sort of semblance of a normal footballing world. The weirdest thing is they actually have a bid accepted. 32 million. Ish. Give or take a million. What’s a million between friends? Still the smart money with less than four hours left is on Man Utd taking him. Despite Spurs insistence that Utd didn’t have permission to talk to Berbatov, the Bulgarian has apparently had a medical already and has certainly met with Alex Ferguson. Utd will more than likely have to up their offer to closer to 30 million given that City have had a huge bid accepted. I wouldn’t rule out Spurs playing hardball and keeping Berbatov if Utd refuse to budge, particularly as the relationship between the clubs has gone sour. Whether or not Berbatov will even meet with City remains to be seen. With his hear set on Old Trafford and Champions League football, the likelihood of City snapping him up must be slim…..

Chelsea and Robinho? Real Madrid insist the deal won’t be done. Media outlets believe it will, it would certainly be surprising if the Brazilian stays after being so public about his desire to leave…It would also be extremely strange to see Chelsea not buy anyone….Given that it is what they do best, we should probably expect some sort of signing before the end of the day….

Liverpool look more and more lightweight, despite the arrival of Riera from Espanyol. Man City fans remember him as being slightly average. Liverpool fans certainly won’t want to look at YouTube clips of the left winger, which make the words Gomez and Cheyrou spring to mind. Has Benitez splashed out on another expensive mistake? Steve Finnan has signed for Espanyol. In a slightly bizarre move (It’s nowhere near Aston Villa Stevie…) the Spanish and Irish players have swapped clubs, suggesting Liverpool got a little bit of cash off the deal given that both have been undisclosed….Liverpool have also offloaded Voronin to Hertha Berlin and with the news that Torres will miss their next game against Utd, the Merseysiders look slightly weak up front.

Sunderland have continued their recruitment drive by bringing in George McAcrtney from West Ham which could pave the way for Paolo Ferreira to move across London from Chelsea. Rumour has it the Portugese is on his way to Upton Park with Northern Irish international McCartney already signed on a year-long loan for Roy Keane’s men…

The thing about transfer deadline day is that once one deal goes through, a whole lot more follow…..

With Berbatov on his way out of White Hart Lane and Pavlyuchenko having already signed, Emile Heskey is reportedly on his way to Spurs. This will apparently pave the way for a Wigan bid for Man Utd striker Fraizer Richardson. Unless they go for Mido. Which could mean the Utd striker choosing Hull…..

Carling Cup Draw

The draw for the second round of the Carling Cup has been made with several Premiership teams facing tricky opposition. Roy Keane returns to Notts Forest for the first time in a competitive fixture. Quite sad in a way to think that Utd never played Forest in all Keane’s time there, for such a great club it’s brilliant to see some excitement back at the City Ground. They have added the perennial Championship goalscorer Robert Earnshaw to their ranks and he scored twice in their first round win over Morecambe last night.

                          

With the Premiership teams in European action not added until the third round stage, giantkillerswill be lurking to topple some of the clubs who could do with a good cup run.
West Ham reached the FA Cup Final against Liverpool two years ago and would love another crack at Wembley. They host Macclesfield in the second round. Newcastle face a tricky trip to Chris Coleman’s Coventry, for whom new signing Clinton Morrisson got off the mark with a goal last night. Newly promoted Premiership side Hull face a tricky trip to Roberto Martinez’ Swansea while Mark Hughes will kick off Man City’s campaign away to Brighton.

Draw in Full with Premiership teams in Italics….

Ipswich v Colchester
Coventry v Newcastle
Hartlepool v West Brom
West Hamv Macclesfield
Huddersfield v Sheffield United
Cardiff v MK Dons
Swansea v Hull
Rotherham v Wolves
Brighton v Manchester City
Reading v Luton
Blackburnv Grimsby
Wiganv Notts County
Leeds v Crystal Palace
Crewe v Bristol City
Middlesbrough v Yeovil
Fulham v Leicester
QPR v Carlisle
Nottingham Forest v Sunderland
Burnley v Oldham
Southampton v Birmingham
Bolton v Northampton
Watford v Darlington
Preston v Derby
Cheltenham v Stoke
Ties to be played week commencing 25th August

Pre-Season Predictions

The Premiership season is set to get underway next weekend and thefc100 is sticking its neck on the line as it attempts to accurately predict the entire Premiership table….

1: Chelsea
2: Man Utd
3: Liverpool
4: Arsenal
5: Aston Villa
6: Tottenham
7: Portsmouth
8: Everton
9: Man City
10: Newcastle
11: West Ham
12: Sunderland
13: Fulham
14: Blackburn
15: Middlesbrough
16: Bolton
17: Wigan
18: West Brom
19: Stoke
20: Hull

Spurs get a shiny new Bentley…

Ramos shows off his Bentley

David Bentley (right-winger, not car, despite what that clever headline made you think) has signed for Spurs in a deal worth £17 million to the Lancashire outfit.
The former Blackburn midfielder has been on the look-out for a new club since Mark Hughes left to join Man City earlier this summer. By signing for Spurs, the England man will have disappointed the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Man City, where Hughes would no doubt have been keen to reunite with the player.

The former Arsenal man has become hot property and may well have made himself England’s number one by signing for the London club. If Spurs can replace Robbie Keane and Berbatov, should he leave, they will have a squad which will look at the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal and believe they can genuinely compete against them this year.

The arrival of Bentley could also signal the departure of Aaron Lennon. Two seasons ago Lennon was one of the best players to watch in the Premiership and earned a call-up to the England squad. However a dip in form last year has led to the belief that he too will be off-loaded this summer by Spurs who are facing into the season with an almost entirely reshaped squad.

You don’t win anything with kids…

                                    

No, seriously Arsene.
Arsenal have ’swooped’ for another talented youngster, Portugal Under-21 midfielder Amaury Bischoff from Werder Bremen. The 21-year-old midfielder has signed for the London team after rejecting a new contract offer from the German side. With compensation yet to be agreed, Arsenal may have to go to a tribunal to determine how much needs to be paid.

Wenger’s famous youth policy continues, with his main summer signing Nasri from Marseilles still a teenager and now Bischoff brought i, it seems, to replace Mattieu Flamini who left to join AC Milan in the summer. No doubt we’ll come to regret this when the Portugese is named young player of the year, but isn’t it time Arsene started looking for a few more experienced players? If the wisest man in your squad is young Fabregas then something is wrong. Obviously we don’t have to defend that statement seeing as Gallas made an absolute mockery of the captain’s armband in the premiership last year. Plus everyone’s favourite grandad at the club, Jens Lehman, has sought pastures new. (Give it up Jens, what are you 50?)

Could be another tough season for Arsenal. With Adebayor making noises about leaving, Fabregas having reached the final of Euro 2008 and barely got a moment’s rest before lamping back for training and one or two of their best players, Flamini and Hleb, having left, times are still looking tough…..

Ben Haim to City

Rooney and Ben Haim will renew acquaintances in the Manchester derby

Well it’s official, Man City have an abundance of cash and are happy to fork out over the odds on, pretty much anyone. You have to feel sorry for the fans who will certainly be feeling blue today (or not as the case may be, man that was a confusing play on words) after dreams of Ronaldinho went with his transfer to AC Milan, only to see the most -unlike-Ronaldinho-type player in the Premiership sign for them.

No doubt, Ben Haim is a handy player. There is also no doubt he was being linked with a £2 million switch back to Bolton a few months ago. Unless he’s putting in three times as much effort these days, it’s hard to jutify that kind of fee. Chelsea have done well from signing a player for free, realising he’s no good enough and making back a bit of wasted money on Shevchenko.

 It’s also strange that Hughes would choose to sign a player in a position where he’s possibly got his best two players in Dunne and Richards. Maybe Richards will be going back to right-back or maybe he’ll be going altogether. A club like Arsenal could do with him at the moment and he would certainly suit their style of play.

So Chelsea have recouped most of Deco now. Sobering thought isn’t it? I always wonder why it is that managers come in with an ‘everyone starts with a blank slate’ attitude, only to farm out the player that got left behind last season. Do the coaches tell the incoming manager, hey, listen, that Ben Haim is a pile of shi**…..?

So Man City have a strong central defence now, time to get moving on the forwards Hughesy. With the likes of Dunne and Johnson set to plede their future to the clubs, Man City fans only need a type of Ronaldinho to get their dreams going for the season ahead….

Robbie Keane to Liverpool

Keane arrives at Anfield

Irish International Robbie Keane has become the second most expensive signing for Liverpool in the club’s history.
Hmmmm. 28 years old. £20 million? He’s a good signing definitely, but whether a £20 mil investment is a good one remains to be seen. There’s no doubt splashing out on the right striker is important. Especially for Liverpool who now have a third option for goals apart from Torres and Gerrard. The fact that Keane can score will also free up room for the likes of Babel and Benayoun to get more goals. It’s easier to mark two players than it is three.

And Robbie Keane is tough to mark. He drags defenders out wide, leaving Torres and Gerrard nearer the box. He can score from long-range meaning defenders have to go to him, they can’t leave him any space. It’s certainly a clever signing, and Keane has had very few problems with injuries until this point.

However Benitez has brought in strikers who hven’t worked in recent years. With a £20 mil fee, Benitez can’t afford to flog him off after a year as he did with Bellamy and as he may yet do with Voronin. Keane’s signing is vital, but Liverpool are still a striker short, unless Ngog can step up immediately, a prospect Benitez doesn’t seem to convince on: “Normally he will be available for the first team next season. He is a player who wants to improve quickly, so he will learn and then settle down”

The week ahead

It’s an important week ahead in the footballing world. Kind of. Well we’re gonna try and make it sound like it’s important anyway.

International Week:

Fabio Capello took his first training session as England manager today. While the media feverishly tried to figure out who will captain England against Switzerland, a rare honest moment from a Premiership footballer came when Steven Gerrard admitted the players were nervous about meeting Capello.
The fact that Beckham was left out indicates the Italian will not be succumbing to popular or media opinion. While it seems cruel to deny Beckham the 100th cap, the simple fact is – it’s not.
We’ve said our piece about Beckham:

http://thefc100.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/england-v-croatia-preview/